Traditions must live on, even in a year such as this. Homecoming is an essential part of fall at NFA, but this year, obviously, has been a bit different. Typically, our homecoming court is introduced at our annual football game prior to the announcement of our King and Queen.

While the celebration may have been different this year, the process was the same. Candidates for the court were nominated by our senior class, and voting for King and Queen was open to all NFA students.

Those nominated for Homecoming Queen were Makayla Kelley, Eve Pelletier and Hannah Vega. Those nominated for Homecoming King were Jason Benoit, Jareth Tosses and Connor Ullrich. Kelley and Tosses were crowned as NFA royalty.

Holiday showcase online to see

December is traditionally filled with winter band and choral concerts, dance performances and more. While those could not happen in person, they could happen virtually. Prior to holiday break, we published a Holiday Showcase featuring students from our Dance Company, Ambassador Singers, Symphonic Band and Playshop. To watch the performance, visit the Academy YouTube channel at youtube.com/norwichfreeacademy.

NFA students earn Eastern Regional honors

Ten choral students and four instrumental students from Norwich Free Academy were recently selected for the Eastern Regional High School Festival by the Connecticut Music Educators Association.

Choral students honored include seniors Ericka Alfred, Jeremy Fralin, Angela Gomes, Joshua Matthews, Isabella Morabito and Chelsea Taylor, and juniors Cynthia Deneus, Lily O’Neil, Naina Prakash and Danielle Toppa.

Instrumental students chosen include juniors Jackson Bell (clarinet), Aidan O’Farrell (trumpet) and Niamh Smedley (bass clarinet) and freshman Evan Parker (alto saxophone).

While there is no in-person festival this year, the students were selected among the region’s best following a challenging virtual audition process. Receiving this honor now makes these students eligible to audition for all-state honors in the spring.

Recognizing excellence for November

So much good is happening, even during this challenging time. Each month, we will recognize excellence on campus in three distinct areas: Students of the Month, Athletes of the Month and our new Top Cat recognition.

Students of the Month are selected from academic departments on campus. Athletes of the Month are selected by the Athletic Department. And, our new Top Cat program honors adults on campus who have been nominated by students. For November, there were 89 adults nominated by students for this new honor, and we will continue to feature four of those nominees each month.

November honorees are as follows:

Students of the Month: Cory Bouthot, AnnMarie Bratti, Makayla Kelley, Jackson Lee, Dylan Levine, Irvin Ayala Pascual, Molly Plecan, Carmen Rojas and Jareth Tosses.

Athletes of the Month: Gloria Ng, girls’ swimming, and Timothy “TJ” Jencks, boys’ cross country.

Top Cats: Angelica Anderson, campus safety officer; Leo Butler, director of diversity; Tonya Laymon, vocal teacher; and Anne Zinn, school counselor.

Michael O’Farrell is the director of communications at NFA and a parent of a two students, Class of 2022 and 2025. He can be reached at ofarrellm@nfaschool.org.